[NU Sports] Attendance

[Jonathan Hodges]

Some good ideas - obviously some new and fresh ideas are needed to address
this issue, because outside of winning a lot of games year in and year out,
the old stuff isn't working.  I would like to address some the things that
you brought up, though:

- Starting times: it's all in the hands of the networks, and the agreement
with ESPN says that no BTN games can be opposite the "marquee" ABC matchup
of the day (typically the 2:30 slot, but in the case of the OSU/Michigan
game it's noon).  ESPN/ABC gets their pick(s) first, and the BTN has to
schedule their games around those games, giving the Big Ten and specifically
Northwestern little control in regards to time of games.

- Northern Illinois: NIU is now insisting on home-and-home series games (NU
has never played NIU away from home), which I don't think NU is willing to
do.  Maybe if it was 2 for one or better, NU may go for it, but Murphy
insists on having 7 home games (something I don't disagree with) and
home-and-home series against MAC level competition won't let NU get there.

- "Home" game away from Ryan Field: a bad idea and won't do anything for
numbers outside of on paper, especially since renting a facility and dealing
with travel, etc. won't really make NU any money.  And I completely disagree
with the idea of selling out by moving a home game closer to an opponent as
an attempt to get more fans - in that case don't even try to get home games.

- Day of Game discounts: GREAT idea.  This is a college (amateur level)
sport.  A $50 tag drives away almost every casual fan family who can't
afford that steep price - oh, and once they get to the game there's no money
left for the pricey concessions.  Especially for nonconference games, NU
needs to play with the prices (bring them down A LOT) to attract people to
the game.  The fact is that it can't hurt, NU saw TWO games this year under
20,000 in attendance with another THREE just over 20,000.

Anyways, not trying to shoot down any idea, the fact is NU needs a new
well-thought-out strategy regarding attendance and filling the seats.  I
would hope that this discussion is starting in the athletic department
shortly, and IMHO it would be advisable to include NU fans in the discussion
(maybe a town hall type format or an internet exchange).

Jonathan


On Nov 16, 2007 8:49 PM, <WildElk2 at aol.com> wrote:

> Master of the Obvious Dept.: The 12 game schedule has made it  more
> difficult
> to get decent crowds, although Mark Murphy is on record that he  will take
> a
> win at home in front of 15,000, as he feels that more wins will
>  eventually
> equal more people.
>   With the BTN,  there may be more flexibility of starting  times.  Maybe
> we
> can  ask the BTN for more 2:30 PM games (as well as  an occasional night
> game)?  11:00 AM kick-offs have to keep at least a few  people away.  The
> Duke
> game is perfect example, as it produced  6,7,000 more than the
> Northeastern/Nevada games.
>   Get a series with Northern Ill..  A five year series with  3 games in
> Evanston.  This would help both programs , who struggle with  early season
>
> attendance issues.
>   Schedule a "home" game outside of Dyche Stadium. This is not a  paycheck
> game like the one we disgustingly played vs. Ohio St. at Cleveland
>  Municipal
> Stadium in the early Nineties.   There are plenty of small  stadiums
> across the
> country that hold 20,000-25,000.  An example would be  Hershey Park
> Stadium
> in Hershey, Pa., which holds 20,000.  In 2009 we play  Towson; a perfect
> game
> to make it easy for east coast alums and  fans.   Notre Dame is playing
> "home"
> games in San Antonio and  Jacksonville in the near future.
>   On the day of the game, if we have a 20,000-25,000 ish crowd,  sell the
> end zone  and goal-line seats for $5, and advertise the hell out  of it
> via
> newspapers, radio, TV.   Just get people here; they'll buy  hot dogs,
> programs,
> and once in a while, they'll get a junkie hooked like me,  who paid $4 for
> end
> zone seats circa. 1980.   In the same vein, bring  back Band Day and sell
> all
> those crappy seats for a $1 for each band  member.
>   Crowds(?) of 16,000, 17,000, and 20,000 for a conference game  is
> unacceptable.   Time to take steps to change.
>   As far as the Illinois game, I anticipate a hard-hitting  nail-biter,
> but
> I'm picking Illinois to win, as after 4 straight wins, it's  Illinois's
> turn.
> They will not take us lightly, and after 4 straight  losses and so much on
> the line, I see no let-down.  We need to stop the  run, period.  With that
> said,
> I see a 31-27 Illinois win.    If we can stop the run , we'll give
> ourselves
> a chance to win.
>
>    GO CATS!!!    Eric
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Jonathan W. Hodges
1237 Emerson St Apt 2
Evanston, IL  60201-3577
(847) 736-2449
jonathanwhodges at gmail.com